


Sinner's Eden

by OtherCat



Series: OtherCat's Snippets and Incomplete Fic [9]
Category: Chrno Crusade
Genre: AU, F/M, Revolutionaries, Theocracy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-16
Updated: 2013-11-16
Packaged: 2018-01-01 18:25:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1047134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OtherCat/pseuds/OtherCat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rosette Christopher is an orphan drawn into a mysterious and heretical Rebellion that seeks to overturn the rule of the gods.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Daimones

**Author's Note:**

> This AU takes place in a universe where Pandaemonium crashed, but most of the nobles survived and were able to conquer/colonize Earth ten thousand years previous to the story. Slight inspiration taken from Ancient Aliens/Stargate tropes of aliens pretending to be gods.
> 
> This was originally started in 2008 or 2009 on fanfiction.net. For some reason I can't find the actual date.

There were once Six Sinners who followed a star to the End of the World...but this is not a fairytale, and no one yet knows the ending.   
  
The star's name was Miriam. She was a human woman gifted with powers that made her valuable to the Archons who ruled both daimone and humankind. She knew both the future and the distant past, and conversed with the spirits of the dead. Her intended role was priestess and interface between humans and Archons--but this role was not one she had ever wanted, nor could she pretend that the Archons were descended from the Most Holy.  
  
Denying the destiny chosen for her by the Archons, she instead chose a path that was beyond them. She sought the company of the six daimones who would someday be called Sinners, and befriended them. When the first Sinner came to his own realization of the true nature of the Archons, she helped him and the other Sinners escape.

  
Though she was no warrior, she fought fiercely at the side of the Sinners, and in the end sacrificed herself so that the Sinners could continue the war on their own.   
  


* * *

  
They'd seen the same thing in State Orphanage after State Orphanage; long lines of adolescent and pre-adolescent humans in identical blue smocks, matrons enforcing correct posture and silence with voice and switch. The young humans were so perfectly disciplined however, that the corrections the matrons made were obviously unnecessary,  the result of nerves on the part of the children's instructors. The rows of silent children gave him a peculiar sense of homesickness. He'd grown up in a creche that had been set up in a manner nearly identical to these human orphanages, and while he didn't miss being a child, his time in the creche had been one of simplicity and structure--nothing at all like his current life.  
  
As a Sinner.   
  
In their disguise as Archons, Chrono and Aion were treated with great deference and respect. The Orphanage Directors eager to demonstrate the intelligence, skill sets, and obedience of their charges. The current Director was a tall, stern looking woman who softened only slightly under the effect of Aion's charm. "We're looking for twenty children, between the ages of twelve and fifteen for service positions," he told her. "Athleticism and good hand-eye coordination are a must."   
  
The Director bowed. "Of course my lord," she said, and spoke to the matron standing next to her. The matron bowed, and relayed the orders. Children of the requisite age group stepped forward, and the others were ushered away.   
  
Aion made a show of inspecting the children, occasionally asking the Director or one of the children a question before making a selection, and having the child stand apart from the others. He did this every time, claiming that the children needed to feel as if they were being specially selected--Chrono suspected the real reason was an overdeveloped sense of drama. This particular time however, the inspection seemed more serious some how, as if he were really looking for something--or someone. "There is a child missing from this grouping," Aion said sharply--and much to Chrono's surprise.   
  
The Director flushed. "My lord, I assure you that these are all the children we have in this age-skill group."  
  
"There is a female of this age-skill group in the discipline room," Aion said with an angry frown.    
  
The Director flushed more deeply and bowed. "My lord, the child you are aware of could not possibly meet your requirements. She is severely emotionally disturbed--her brother was culled four years ago, and she has been a discipline problem ever since."  
  
"I know my own requirements, Director," Aion said sternly. "Send for the child. I will take your 'discipline problem' off your hands, and these others."   
  
The Director bowed and retreated to fulfill Aion's instructions. The adolescent female was brought in, in the company of two matrons. She wore a gray smock for penance, and her dark blond hair was covered by a black kerchief. Despite her withdrawn and quiet  demeanor, Chrono could sense a fierceness lurking just below the surface--and a great deal of pain. "Chrono, take charge of the discipline problem," Aion said.   
  
Chrono shook himself out of his brief reverie. He bowed to Aion, playing the part of the loyal vassal, then stepped forward. The girl started to back away, wide-eyed, but the matrons caught her by the arms. Chrono said nothing to the matrons, simply gave them a level stare. The two women released the girl, and backed away, bowing.   
  
The girl was trembling, but stood her ground, Chrono noted with approval.  Chrono held out his hand. "Come with me," he said. The girl stared at him, stared at his hand, then took it. He led her to the car. "Get in, he said, and released her hand.   
  
She gave him a wary look, glanced back at the orphanage, then got into the car. She scooted to the other side when he slid into the seat next to hers. She kept her gaze lowered, but kept sneaking glances his way. He could sense that she was awed, frightened, but also powerfully curious. *She's never seen an Archon up close before,* Chrono thought.   
  
Chrono sent for Genai, and soon the remaining children were loaded into the van. Aion slid into the driver's seat of the car, glancing back at the girl. "For a discipline problem, she's really very quiet," Aion said, and smirked at the girl's embarrassed blush.  
  
"Time with you will cure that," Chrono said with asperity. Aion laughed, and the car rose up into the air, followed by the van. Shortly after they left, Rizelle would wipe the memories of the humans, and Shader would remove the records of the children from the orphanage and government databases. The children would cease to exist as far as the world was concerned.   
  
"Does the discipline problem have a name?" Aion asked Chrono.   
  
Chrono felt a guilty twinge--and his brother's amusement. "I didn't ask," he admitted.   
  
"Are these the manners Miriam taught you? Shameful," Aion mock-scolded. The girl was now giving both of them a wary, uncertain look.   
  
*We are definitely not living up to her expectations,* Chrono thought, giving his brother an irritated look for mentioning Miriam. Aion just smirked, entirely unrepentant. "My name is Chrono, this is my brother Aion. What's your name?" Chrono asked.   
  
"Rosette, my lord," the girl said.   
  
"We're not nobles, child," Aion said. Chrono gave his brother a quick, uncertain look. It seemed too soon to reveal themselves. *"Drop the disguise, Chrono,"* Aion said silently.   
  
Chrono obeyed, allowing the disguise to drop. "You're daimones!" Rosette said, more curious than frightened. "But--why were you pretending to be Archons?"  
  
"We're kidnappers," Aion said cheerfully, causing the girl's fear to spike dramatically.   
  
The most immediate reasons why daimones might kidnap orphans from a State Orphanage were both incredibly illegal, and invariably lethal for the human children involved. The girl's instinctive reaction was to attempt to escape--even though the aircar was now at least a thousand feet in the air. She scrabbled at the lock, and threw her body against the door. Chrono silently thanked the spirits that she couldn't work the lock. Diving after a hysterical child wasn't something that would be inconspicuous. "It's not like that," Chrono said quickly, giving his brother a hard look. "I swear we don't mean you any harm."   
  
For a moment, he thought Rosette might try attacking him. Instead, she pressed against the door in a defensive curl. "W-why should I believe you?" She asked, voice shaking.   
  
"What would you accept as proof?" Chrono asked. "All I have is my word."   
  
"I-I don't know," Rosette said uncertainly. "W-what do you want from me, from us?" She asked.  
  
"We needed workers. This isn't any different than if you'd been conscripted by real Archons," Aion said gently.    
  
"Who are you?" Rosette asked. Chrono thought that the true question was, *why would you need to obtain workers illegally?*   
  
"Sinners, outlaws, heretics," Chrono said with a slight smile. "Criminals."  
  
The girl frowned at him. "You sound like that's something to be proud of."  
  
"It depends on the crime," Chrono said. "Why were you in the discipline room?"  
  
Rosette looked away, embarrassed. "For arguing with the teachers."  
  
"Were you?" Chrono asked.  
  
"She said I was."  
  
Chrono had to fight a smile at the sullen tone. "Were you?" He repeated.  
  
Rosette shook her head. "No. I just didn't understand the lesson, and the more confused I got, the more she said I was play acting at not understanding, and then I shouted at her."   
  
"That's what some crimes are like," Chrono said. "One person saying, 'I don't understand' and the other person saying, 'you're lying, of course you understand. Stop doing what you're doing, or you'll be punished.'"  
  
Rosette gave him a thoughtful, curious look. "What didn't you understand?" She asked.  
  
"Chrono, I think you should have permanent charge of our discipline problem," Aion interjected before Chrono could find a way to say _the Archons did not descend from Heaven, they are no more or less holy than you or me_ in a way that wouldn't confuse or frighten the child.   
  
"What?" Chrono asked, startled. "Why?"  
  
"You both have a great deal in common--you both ask too many questions." Aion glanced back at him with a teasing grin.   
  
Chrono gave his brother a disgusted look. "As you will, Master," he said sarcastically. It was only the presence of the human in the aircar that kept him from doing what he normally did when Aion was too clever by half--which was smack him. He glanced at the girl. The poor child was flushing with embarrassment and confusion as she watched the exchange. "It's going to be all right," he said, wanting to be reassuring, and knowing he was falling short of the mark. "You'll see."  
  
"Well that's certainly a ringing endorsement," Aion quipped.   
  
"Oh shut up."  
  


* * *

  
  
The rest of the trip back to Eden was quiet--the girl fell asleep leaning against the aircar's door, head against the window. There was no tension or fear in her posture, and her dreams were gentle and calm, full of sunlight and the sounds of spring. Chrono found himself smiling at the innocence and warmth of the images in the girl's mind. "There is something very endearing about a sleeping child," Aion noted quietly.   
  
"You were looking for her," Chrono said. "Her specifically--why?"  
  
"I was looking for her brother," Aion said. "I would have taken her as well of course, but it was her brother we needed."   
  
"A cull?" Chrono asked, giving his brother a baffled look. "Why?"  
  
Aion glanced back. "This touches upon something Miriam saw," he said. "I can't tell you you anything more than that right now. I don't like that he wasn't where he was supposed to be. If my timing was off, or if Miriam's prediction was inaccurate, we need to find out why."  
  
"I'll talk to Shader when she and Rizelle get back," Chrono said.    
  
"Once you get your discipline problem settled in," Aion corrected. "Put her in your quarters, get her clothes and toiletries--and keep her seperate for now, from the other children from the Orphanage."   
  
A dozen variations on the theme of "why" danced through Chrono's head, but he couldn't put them together coherently. "I haven't shared quarters in a long time," he said instead--a half-hearted protest. "Not since Miriam."   
  
"Well then it's past time, isn't it?" Aion asked with a smirk. "Maybe having a roommate again will encourage you to clean up after yourself more often than once a month."  
  
Chrono sighed. "Oh shut up."   
  
The girl was awake again by the time they reached Eden. Her eyes were very wide when she saw the orbital. "Is--is that where you live? That floating island?"   
  
"Yes," Aion said. "That's Eden, your new home." A smirk. "You'll like it, there aren't any discipline rooms."  
  
"Aion--" Chrono said.  
  
"I know, I know, shut up."


	2. Brothers

When they exited the aircar Chrono took the girl by the hand and led her inside. Rosette gawked at everything, apparently fascinated by everything she was seeing. The main hall was full of people working on various projects, or moving about on some errand or another. Workers and soldiers called greetings to him, which he returned with a nod or a smile. A few, those directly under his command approached with questions about the mission, giving the girl curious looks. "We have twenty one new conscripts," Chrono said. "Gennai and Viede are probably taking them to be processed and assigned, everything went well."   
  
He answered all of their questions, except for the ones related to the girl who was now holding his hand in a deathgrip. "I can only say that she's been assigned directly to my command," was all he said. His officers and work chiefs nodded, and one or two of them tried to smile reassuringly at Rosette, who only gripped his hand tighter. He introduced them all by name to the girl, but he wasn't sure how much she was retaining. She had the wide eyed look of someone very close to reaching their limit.   
  
"Now we're going to get you some clothes," Chrono said softly, once his people had been dismissed. "And from there, directly to quarters. Are you hungry?"   
  
The girl shook her head. "N-no sir."   
  
"There's a kitchen in my quarters," Chrono said. "If you're hungry later."    
  
The girl nodded. "Thank you, sir," she said, her voice a little stronger.   
  
He took her to the quartermaster, who gave her three changes of clothing, a pair of soft slippers, a pair of shoes and a pair of boots. From her expression this was more clothing than she had ever owned. That the clothing was plain and sturdy also seemed to do a better job of reassuring her that he meant no harm than anything he could have said. She wanted to put on the clothing immediately, so the quartermaster let her change in a corner of the stock room. She emerged wearing a skirt, a blouse, the boots, and the black kerchief. She was holding the rest of her clothes in her arms. She smiled shyly at him.  
  
"Follow me," he said, smiling in return. He started down the corridor, and after a moment's hesitation, the girl followed.   
  
The appalled expression on the girl's face when she saw his quarters made him laugh, despite a faint twinge of embarrassment. His quarters really were a mess. There had been a time when he'd kept everything neat and precise, but living alone for so long hand encouraged a slow creep of detritus into his life.   
  
Hardcopy files were scattered everywhere, as were books, plates and cups. Dust covered the tops of the bookshelves, the antique towerclock in the corner, and the lamps. The less said about the furniture--which after fifty years were showing a great deal of wear--and the stained rugs the better. "I don't clean up very often," he said apologetically. "I'll show you where you'll be sleeping." He hesitated, momentarily at a loss over where to put her, before going toward the room he never used.   
  
The room had once belonged to Miriam. It had stood empty for the past fifty years since Miriam's death. It wasn't very big, but it was brightly lit, and there was a window seat. Rosette seemed to like the room she explored every corner of it, and even peered into the closet. She set her clothes down and approached the window to look at the garden below.     
  
"I'll bring you a pallet," Chrono said. "The bathroom is down the hall to the left. Don't leave the apartment."   
  
"Yes sir," the girl said. "I won't."  
  
He was on his way back to the quartermaster for bedding when his brother contacted him. _"Chrono, do you have your discipline problem settled in?"_  
  
 _"I'm getting her a pallet and blankets right now,* Chrono replied. *I'm giving her Miriam's old room."_

  
There was a momentary surprised silence from Aion. _"I see,"_ he said. His tone was almost disapproving.  
  
 _"Well, I wasn't about to put her on the couch,"_ Chrono said, feeling suddenly defensive and irritated by his brother's reaction. Hadn't Aion been nagging him relentlessly about treating the room as if it were sacred space, and leaving it empty for all these years since Miriam's death? He continued down the hall. _"What did Miriam see, that has you so interested in that child and her brother?"_  
  
 _"The boy had a Gift. I don't know how powerful he would have been--though I doubt he could have rivaled Miriam,"_ Aion said.  
  
 _"The nobles guard the Chosen so closely it's nearly impossible to find them, or get to them them when we do find them,"_ Chrono said. _"The only reason we had Miriam--"_   
  
_"--Was because Miriam had us,"_ Aion finished for Chrono. _"If I'd gotten to him in time, he'd be the first Chosen One we've been able to acquire."_ A mental sigh from Aion. _"Miriam told me that it wasn't very likely I'd be able to get the boy--I should have taken her prediction as a warning instead of a challenge."_  
  
 _"The girl doesn't have a Gift,"_ Chrono said. _"Why take her?"_  
  
 _"Sympathy?"_ Aion suggested with a mental smirk. _"I honestly think they would have culled her as well in a few years time."_  
  
 _"Be serious, Aion,"_ Chrono said. Aion was right though, he thought. The level of grief and resentment the girl had been feeling probably would have eventually caused her to fail the mental health assessments.   
  
_"Oh, I always am, little brother,"_ Aion replied, amused.   
  
_"Aion."_ Warning, now.   
  
A mental sigh from Aion. _"Miriam told me that if I wanted to find the brother, I needed the sister. She didn't give me specifics though."_  
  
 _"The brother wasn't a cull then? He might still be alive somewhere?"_ Chrono asked. After fifty years, they knew very little about how the Chosen were gathered located or collected. Miriam hadn't really been a good source of information in that regard--her powers had overwhelmed and destroyed her memories of her early childhood. The only thing they had known for certain was that she had been an orphan.   
  
_"I have no way of knowing for sure,"_ Aion replied. _"It's something we--you need to find out."_  
  
Chrono sighed. _"What am I supposed to do with the girl in the mean time?"_  
  
 _"Teach her. Train her."_ There was  a slight pause from Aion. Chrono had the sense that his brother was holding something back from him. _"She's under your authority. Treat her--treat her as you would any new conscript."_  
  
 _"I've never had a new conscript living in my quarters,"_ Chrono said dryly.  
  
 _"You know what I mean, brother,"_ Aion replied in a slightly more stern tone.   
  
_"As you wish, brother,"_ Chrono replied, and cut the connection.   
  
When he returned with the bedding, he found the girl in the process of cleaning his quarters. She had all ready cleared away the dishes, and stacked the loose books on top of the shelves to be sorted and reshelved. She looked at him like a cornered rabbit when he walked in. "You don't have to do that," Chrono said gently. "It might not look like it, but I don't need a maid."  
  
"I wanted to," the girl replied, giving him an almost defiant look, even as she blushed. "And anyway, you didn't tell me what my duties were supposed to be." The slight cheekiness in the girl's tone made Chrono fight against a smile.  
  
"That's because I don't quite know myself," Chrono admitted, looking around at the room, and setting the bedding down for the moment. She'd moved his hardcopy files to his dining area table, which was a cause for some concern, as the order had been to a specific purpose. "Taking the initiative is a positive trait, but you really shouldn't have started moving files around without knowing--" his chiding broke off as he realized that she had placed the files in nearly the identical order he'd put them in. He gave Rosette a sharp look. "How did you figure out that the placement of these files were deliberate? Did you read them?"   
  
"No sir," the girl said, looking at the tops of her boots. "It just--I figured that if they were all set out like that, there was a reason, because you didn't pick them all up when you entered."  
  
Chrono tried not to wince. The truth was that he had been so distracted by the girl and the puzzle she represented that he hadn't thought to grab his files and secure them. "For future reference, don't move files or anything that looks like paper work or records without permission."  
  
"Yes sir," the girl said.   
  
"Over the next few days you're going to have your skill and knowledge sets tested," Chrono continued. "Once we know what you're capable of, and what you might be able to learn, we'll train you."   
  
"Yes sir," the girl said. Then, "can I ask what I'm going to be trained for?"  
  
"That depends on a lot of things," Chrono said. "My command is mostly related to operations outside of Eden--acquiring the necessary resources that we can't produce here."  
  
"Like workers?" Her question was definitely cheeky.  
  
Chrono smiled slightly. "Like raw material for making the things we need and food for the workers," Chrono said. "I also gather information and send operatives on missions based off of intelligence gathered by Rizelle and her people."   
  
"Why?" The girl asked, then flushed slightly. "I mean, what's the purpose of all this?" She lifted her hands to indicate Eden itself. "What's going on here?"   
  
"You'll be finding that out over the next few days," Chrono said. "Right now, I want to know more about you."   
  
"Me?" The girl asked, startled.   
  
"For whatever reason, you've been placed directly under my authority," Chrono said. "Which is a long way of saying 'yes.'" He sat down on the couch, and pointed to a nearby chair. "Sit down." After she had sat down, he started asking her questions about the orphanage, how she and her brother had ended up there, and the education she'd recieved.   
  
From her, he found out that she and her brother Joshua been sent to the orphanage at the age of five, after the deaths of their parents. She and her brother had been very close, and they had both wanted to take college courses once they left the orphanage. Their grades had been very good, and both were active participants in various games and activities with their peer group.   
  
At about the age of ten, her brother started having serious respiratory problems. After several respiratory arrests, and a general lack of improvement even after various treatments and medications were tried, the boy was culled. Rosette had taken her brother's death hard. Her grades had dropped, and she had become angry and argumentative. As a result, her teachers and the matrons had been increasingly harsh with her in an effort to bring her back under control. It hadn't worked very well.   
  
"I know it's wrong to be upset, th-that he would have died anyway, but it's not fair he died--there's so much we wanted to do." Rosette's hands were closed tight in fists, and she was trying not to cry.   
  
Chrono frowned. Had the boy been culled after all, before his powers had manifested? Or had something else happened? There was a mystery here, that he would have to talk to his brother about. "It's not wrong at all," Chrono said, causing Rosette to look up at him with surprise. "You lost someone you cared about, someone you'll never see again. There's nothing wrong with missing that absent person."   
  
A sullen, angry look crossed the girl's face. "That's not what the matrons said."   
  
"They were wrong," Chrono said. "It's all right to miss someone who isn't there." He stood up. "Now, since you've already started, let's finish cleaning up."  
  



	3. Tests

_In the dream, he once again walked down a long, shadowed hallway. Ahead, he could see the golden flicker and glow of archaic candlelight from a door that had been left open. He entered the room and found the Holy One sitting at a lovingly carved and polished antique writing desk of dark wood. She wrote on what looked like parchment, with an equally archaic pen. She looked up as he approached, and she smiled at him as he formally knelt. "You summoned me, priestess?"_   
  
_There was a whisper of fabric, and suddenly, Chrono found himself drawn to his feet. The Holy One smiled at him, with tears in her eyes. "I did," she said. "I'm happy to finally see you with my own eyes. I've waited so long for now--and you're exactly as I'd knew you'd be."_   
  
_Chrono felt confusion, and a little fear at this. "Forgive me, Holy One, I don't understand."_   
  
_A hand touched the side of his face. "I know," Miriam said. "But I'll teach you--you and your brothers and sisters."_

* * *

  
  
Even though he had told Rosette that she didn't need to do anything, the next morning she made breakfast; barley porridge, pickled eggs and sweet bread with butter. "I didn't want to make just enough for my self," she said somewhat defensively as she set two bowls down on the table.   
  
"Thank you for making breakfast then, Rosette," he said. Two bowls. That told him that Rosette had been listening to him, and understood she wasn't a servant. Chrono smiled at her, and saw a little of her tension ease. *That was a test then.* Rosette did wait for him to sit before sitting down herself, which Chrono felt was an acceptable amount of deference.   
She watched him while they ate, trying not be be obvious about it, though every time he glanced up, she was looking away, flushing slightly at having been caught. "If you have questions, ask them," he said after the fifth repetition of this.   
  
She flushed even more brightly. "I-I've never seen an Archon before, up close. Only you, but you aren't really an Archon, you're daimone, and I've never seen one of those either, except on the television or in holonovels," she said. "I didn't want to offend you."  
  
"You might, but you might not," Chrono said. He smiled. "You can only learn by asking."  
  
Rosette looked down at her bowl of porridge, stirring it with her spoon before taking a bite. "Well, since I'm going to be working for you, I'd like to know more about you." She didn't look up as she spoke.  
  
"What would you like to know?"   
  
"Your lord-brother said you were Sinners and criminals," Rosette said. "What did you do, that made you a Sinner?"  
  
"I wanted freedom," Chrono said simply. "We all did--freedom from duty, and freedom from the rule of the Archons."   
  
"But the Archons--" Rosette said with a wide eyed look. "The Archons are the servants of the Most Holy."  
  
Chrono remembered a time when he had believed that with all his heart. When the world had been uncomplicated and pure, before he had seen the corruption beneath the surface. Before Aion and Miriam had shown him a completely different world, and taught him to desire freedom. He and his brother had been raised to be Elites, the daimones who served the Archons and the human priesthood as body guards and personal aides. He had never questioned his purpose or his place in the great system of the world until he had met Miriam. "I don't believe that," he said. "That's why I'm a Sinner."   
  
He thought he might have disturbed her into silence, because she looked away again, but then she asked, "why don't you believe?"   
  
"Because a High Priestess taught me that the Archons were no more holy than you or I." He could sense her surprise, and her fear of his heretical speech. "Are you a believer, Rosette?" he asked.   
  
"Yes," Rosette said, though Chrono found himself very interested by the slight hesitation in her voice as she continued. "I believe in the Most Holy, and the words of the Messengers."   
  
"So do I," Chrono said, and saw her further suprise and confusion. "I just don't believe that the Archons are the true Messengers."   
  
Rosette frowned at him. "If not them, then who?"   
  
Chrono smiled and shook his head. "Eat your breakfast," he said. "We have a busy day ahead of us."  
  
After breakfast, he took her to the infirmary to be given a medical exam. While he waited for the tests to be completed, he arranged classes for her, carefully making sure that she would have no contact with her age-mates from the orphanage. He wasn't sure why Aion wanted her segregated from her age-mates, but since she had yet to ask after any of them, he decided not to disobey his brother.   
  
The next few days were spent getting Rosette adjusted to her new schedule, and requisitioning extra supplies from the store house. Rosette proved to be very bright and very curious, but also reckless and impatient as her fear and sense of caution began to fade. Chrono had a feeling that she'd be quite a handful, given enough time.   
  
Aion was reading aloud from one of Miriam's diaries when Chrono found him.   
  
Public readings of Miriam's writings were a social ritual that Aion encouraged, but seldom participated in. Chrono wondered how his brother had been talked into reading. He stood at the back, waiting for Aion to finish. A brief glance upward was the only sign that Aion had seen Chrono enter the room.   
  
"'When I finally saw him, with my own eyes instead of the eyes of time-yet-to-come, I felt as if my heart had been grasped by a huge hand. Which yes, I _do_ realize sounds less than romantic Aion--'" Aion paused with a slight smile at the expected laughter.   
  
"'How can I describe him to you, especially those of you who know him, who see him everyday?'" Aion continued. Then Aion looked up, giving Chrono a very secret, very wicked smile as he closed the book, setting his hand on the cover to signal that he spoke now in his own voice. "I can answer that--everyone, look behind you."  
  
Chrono flushed as every eye in the room turned in his direction. "Aion," he protested. "Be serious!"   
  
"I thought I was," Aion said. "How would you describe Chrono?" he asked his audience, to Chrono's intense embarrassment. After various traits such as brave, funny, kind, and intelligent Aion asked, "how about short tempered? Ruthless? Withdrawn?" The members of the audience exchanged confused looks--was Aion joking?   
  
Aion feigned surprise. "None of you think he's short-tempered? Or ruthless? How strange. The Chrono I know from childhood on could be easily needled into terrible fits of rage." He smirked at that, which sparked laughter, and half guilty, half amused glances in Chrono's direction from the audience. "The Chrono I know from my time in training as an Elite onward is capable of absolute ruthlessness toward anyone who harmed someone he cared about." A slight pause. "The Chrono I know, who loved Miriam, who withdrew from us to grieve for more than a year at Miriam's death--he is the same Chrono as the one you know. He is the same Chrono that Miriam knew--does that change your perception of him now? Would you describe him differently, if you saw him with Miriam's eyes, or with mine?" He led the conversation for a quarter hour, then turned the meeting over to someone from Rizelle's command, and approached Chrono. "What is it?" Aion asked.   
  
"Not here," Chrono said in an undertone. "I want to speak to you privately."   
  
"The catwalks then," Aion said, and took the lead.  
  
"Shader gave me the results of Rosette's medical exam," Chrono said, once they reached the outer levels of the orbital. They passed a few guards and some human work crews as they headed out to the narrow catwalks ringing the lower sections of the orbital. The icy wind whipped strands of hair into his face, and whistled past his ears.  "She also told me that you requested she do a gene-scan, and if I wanted to know the results, I should speak to you."  
  
"I thought it best if I told you myself," Aion said quietly. He sat down on the edge of the catwalk, and Chrono joined him.   
  
"Told me what?" Chrono asked, worried. "Is she--ill?"   
  
"No. It would be simpler if she were--we could actually do something to help her."   
  
"What do you mean?"   
  
Aion turned slightly to face Chrono. His expression was unreadable. "There's a ninety five percent match between her genetic profile and that of the First Core. There was an alert tag in her files. Shader tried to trace it, but she wasn't sure if she was able to completely remove it."  
  
"A Core?" Chrono asked. "Like--" He remembered a hall of living, breathing corpses, their bodies slowly being eaten away by the very life support systems that kept their bodies going. He imagined Rosette winged and armless, her blue eyes blank and staring--and felt sick. He wouldn't wish a fate like that on his worst enemy, let alone a child. "That alert tag makes her a liability," Chrono heard himself say distantly. "The other children we took, we could erase them from the system as if they didn't exist--and any member of the bureaucracy could look the other way if the numbers didn't match the census. Do you want me to kill her?"   
  
"If Shader wasn't able to erase the alert tag, it's all ready too late to do anything," Aion said. "If we'd been able to retrieve her brother, the situation would be the same, if not more dire. Anyway, I think we might be able to find a use for her."   
  
"You are not making her into a Core!" Chrono shouted. "You'd be going against everything we--" His words were cut off by Aion's hand wrapping around his throat and squeezing. Chrono tried to break Aion's hold, but his brother's hand was like an iron bar. Black sparks danced at the edges of his vision.  
  
"Don't jump to conclusions, idiot," Aion said. "Eden's systems don't even require a Core." With a hard shake, Aion released him.   
  
Chrono knocked his head against the catwalk, and just lay there for a moment, dazed. "What other use?" Chrono asked when he could speak again.   
  
"We'll see. I have a few theories, and Shader is looking into it--but nothing you need to be concerned with just yet," Aion said.   
  
"If you've made me responsible for her," Chrono said hoarsely. "Then I should know."   
  
"Is that so?" Aion asked. "Well, you're probably right, but I'm still not telling you until I actually _have_ something to tell you." His expression went from angry to amused. "You were willing to kill her if necessary, a moment ago--wouldn't being made into a Core simply be another kind of death?"   
  
"You know it wouldn't. That's why we don't _use_ them," Chrono growled. He levered himself up into a kneeling position, and glared at his brother.   
  
"In this I think I'm more ruthless than you," Aion said. "If it furthered the goal, if there was a task that required a Core, I would use one." A sideways glance. "No matter if you'd become fond of the one I would use."   
  
Chrono growled, and his hands clenched into fists, claws biting into his palms. "Aion, you--"  
  
"I have no intention of harming your Rosette," Aion said. He rose to his feet, and held out his hand to Chrono. After a moment's hesitation, Chrono took Aion's hand, and let his brother haul him to his feet. He smiled. "Have you become so fond of her all ready?"   
  
Chrono felt his face heat. He punched Aion in the arm. "Don't be an ass," he said, and started for the nearest entrance.   
  



	4. Lessons

In some ways, Rosette thought it wasn't any different from the State Orphanage. She had to get up early in the morning, and go to her work assignment. (Usually the kitchen, though she also had to do laundry, and occasionally wash floors and windows.) After her work assignment, she had two classes, Geography and Mathematics, and then lunch. After lunch were two more classes, History and Literature--and what happened after that was where the comparison to the Orphanage ended.   
  
After her classes, she returned to the quarters she shared with her daimone lord. (Even if he'd given her permission to call him Chrono, she really wasn't comfortable with calling him by name.) If he was there, he helped her with her homework, then took her to the firing range, or one of the training rooms for armed and unarmed combat training. If he wasn't there, she did her homework by herself, and one of his people took her to training classes. Sometimes her lord's brother took over the training, but that didn't happen very often.   
  
She made a few tentative friends with her new classmates. Tentative, because she had lost most of her friends after the death of her brother. No one had seemed to understand why she was so miserable and angry, or they hadn't wanted to draw the negative attention of the matrons. Here in Eden, she could start over--no one from the State Orphanage was in any of her classes, which made talking to people easier.   
  
Among Rosette's new friends, were Miri and Ana, who were both conscripts. Ana had been acquired from an Orphanage like herself. Ana had been conscripted at the age of ten, and had a strong technological bent--a computer programmer and infiltrator. Miri on the other hand, had actually been bought from a family with not enough money, and too many children. She had been living in Eden since she was six, and was probably going to be a nurse. Third was Clara, who had been born on Eden to someone in Viede's command, and one of the doctors who worked for Shader.   
  
"What's it like?" Miri, one of her classmates asked suddenly. Rosette, Miri, Clara and Ana were having lunch at one of the picnic tables set up just outside the cafeteria.   
  
Rosette blinked. "What's what like?"   
  
"You know," Miri said with a grin that was slightly sly. "Living with Chrono. Being his protege."   
  
"Is it true he gave you the Holy One's room?" Ana asked.   
  
"H-holy One?" Rosette asked uncertainly. "And I don't know about being his protege, I don't know why I was singled out." She could feel herself shrink back a little at that. Being singled out was never a good thing, in her experience.    
  
"You two are prying," Clara said, giving Miri and Ana an irritated look. "Can't you see how uncomfortable you're making her?"   
  
"But Clara--" the two girls protested.   
  
"It's all right," Rosette said quickly. "I don't mind."   
  
"It really does sound like it," Clara said with mild sarcasm. Clara sighed, and reached out to place her hand briefly on Rosette's arm. "No one knows why Chrono took you in, or why Aion seems to be interested in you as well--and these two gossips were hoping for something to fuel the fires of speculation." The two girls protested this condemnation, but Clara gave them both a withering look.  "You don't have to tell them anything you don't want to, and they should know better than to _ask_."   
  
"Oh." Rosette wasn't quite sure what to say to that. She wasn't used to being offered that kind of consideration--or privacy. "Thank you?"   
  
Clara smiled. "It's all right," she said in a reassuring tone. "Now, you had a question--you don't know who the Holy One is?"   
  
Rosette shook her head. "No--I've heard some people mention a Holy One but--" she trailed off. the Holy Ones were the highest ranking members of the human priesthood, who served the Archons, and the High Priest or Priestess directly. There really wasn't a polite way to ask, _why are you talking about Holy Ones, or_ a _Holy One if you're all Apostates?*_ The other question had to do with why this mysterious "Holy One" was connected to her daimone lord.   
  
"You haven't been to a meeting either, have you?" Clara asked.   
  
"Meeting?" Rosette shook her head. "No, I haven't. I've never been assigned--asked?" She'd been aware of the meetings, more or less, but there had been so much else to get used to, she hadn't really tried to find out about them.   
  
"You don't get assigned, and you don't get asked to go, you just go," Miri said.   
  
"They have them all the time," Ana said. "They're fun."  
  
"What happens at a meeting?" Rosette asked.   
  
"Someone reads something from one of Miriam's Books," Clara said. "And everyone talks about what was read. Sometimes it's just an ordinary storytelling session, or we sing."   
  
"M-miriam?" Rosette asked.   
  
"You really don't know anything, do you?" Ana asked curiously, then yelped when Clara reached out and pinched her arm. "Hey!"   
  
"She wasn't told, and was too shy to really ask," Clara said, giving her friend a disapproving look. "Time was, you didn't know anything either, Ana. Have some sympathy."   
  
"I didn't mean anything bad," Ana said, then, "Sorry Rosette."  
  
"It's all right," Rosette said. "I really don't know anything. Who is 'Miriam'?" She asked Clara.  
  
"Here." Clara rummaged in her book back, and came up with a small book bound with red leather. "This is a copy of one of her first journals. Mama got it for me for my birthday, so please don't lose it," Clara said with a smile. "You can borrow it."   
  
"Thank you," Rosette said, and took the book, tucking it away into her own bookbag.   
  
Rosette didn't get a chance to read the book until late that night. Since the next day was a rest day, and she didn't have to get up early, she decided to stay up reading the book. She made herself a pot of tea, and a snack, and curled up in a big overstuffed chair that had become her favorite. The writing was strange, and slightly archaic, so working her way through it was challenging--but once she got used to it, she was utterly absorbed by it.   
  
A particular passage gave her a little chill: _The dream I will tell you of is always the same. It was my first dream, the first of many. I see a daimone warrior, a member of the Elite. He is weeping, his hair and clothes in disarray. In the dream, I know he is an Apostate, and his eyes are full of despair bordering on madness. I can feel his hand around my throat, and I feel him tremble through that terrible connection. I hear him say that he will slay me. In the dream I am frightened, but the greater feeling is one of deep love--and a resolution._  
  
 _I will find you, Apostate. I promise. I will end your pain and confusion, and set your feet on the path. I will find you, wait for me._ An editor's note said that Mary often self-edited her early journals, for fear of someone finding out her own Apostasy, or using her journals to single out and attack potential "problem individuals." Any member of the Priesthood reading the passage would only have seen the fantasy of a very pious young Holy One destined for the throne of the High Priestess.  
  
Rosette wondered who the daimone warrior was. Chrono, she thought--it seemed a natural fit since apparently he had some kind of connection to the mysterious Miriam. She continued reading through out the night, barely noticing when she finally fell asleep, with the book sliding down between the cushion and the arm of the chair.   
  
She startled awake when Chrono returned, flopping out of the chair as she tried to get up, and landing in an ungraceful sprawl on the floor. "Ow." She sat up, rubbing the back of her head, which she'd knocked against the floor. _Good thing the padding is thick,_ she thought. _It'd be just my luck to get a concussion from falling out of a stupid chair._  
  
"You didn't have to get up," Chrono said with an amused look, and stooped to help her to her feet.   
  
"I was startled," Rosette said, blushing with embarrassment. "I made some tea, but it's probably cold now."   
  
Chrono smiled at her. "I don't mind cold tea." He nudged her back into the chair--and noticed the book. He fished it out of the seat, and looked at it. "Oh," he said. For a moment it almost looked as if he were about to frown--but he smiled instead. "Did someone lend you this?"   
  
Rosette nodded, suddenly feeling shy. "Yes. Clara did, when I said I'd never been to a meeting or anything."  
  
"You haven't?" Chrono asked as he headed into the kitchen, and poured himself a glass of the tea. "We'll have to do something about that."    
  
"You knew her?" Rosette asked tentatively as she followed him into the kitchen. "Miriam, I mean."   
  
Chrono frowned slightly. "What has Clara been telling you?"   
  
"Not a lot," Rosette said. "She lent me the book. And someone asked me if I'd been given her room."   
  
Chrono leaned against the counter, and sipped his tea. He didn't say anything for several minutes. "You were," he said. He smiled briefly. "I wasn't about to put you on the couch."   
  
"Was she your--" Rosette started to ask, then stopped herself, feeling her face heat up.   
  
"That's a very private thing to ask," Chrono said with very mild reproof. "I was very close to Miriam. She was a friend, and someone I cared for very much." A slight pause. "I loved her a great deal."  
  
"What--what was she like?" Rosette asked shyly.   
  
Chrono smiled, then, told her.  
  


* * *

  
  
The priest stepped into the Sanctuary, feeling his heart lift as it always did when he entered the temple. Stained glass windows depicting the workings of the saints and Archons cast a multi-colored glow across pews of fine grained, golden wood, and the white marble floor. The domed ceiling was painted with images from the sacred texts, and the altar behind its sheer silk curtain was carved with sacred symbols.   
  
Ewan went to one knee before the altar, then he saw that he wasn't alone. A boy wearing the white robes of a Holy One was sitting in one of the middle pews. (Ewan felt a moment of discomfort--he was sure that the pews had been empty moments ago.) The boy was sitting with his head tilted back slightly as he studied the paintings. "I always get scolded for gawking during ritual-practice," the boy said suddenly. "So I come here just to look at the paintings, sometimes."  
  
Ewan bowed. "One's mind, the young sir will forgive me for saying so, should be focussed on the rite, not the decorations."   
  
"Then why have decorations?" The boy asked.   
  
Ewan allowed himself a slight smile. "Is the young sir of the Basic Rite?" Priests and Holy Ones of the Basic Rite school disapproved of decorations and images of any kind, believing them to be unneccessary distractions from contemplation of the Most Holy.   
  
"No, Honored Ewan," the boy said, smiling in return as his gaze shifted from the ceiling to Ewan. His eyes were a pale blue, and seemed slightly unfocussed. "Moderate, though I also like Old Rite--there's some really lovely oratory, and the music is beautiful."  
  
"The young sir has the advantage of me," Ewan said.  
  
"My apologies," the boy said. "I have seen you before, and when you entered, I accessed your file."  
  
That definitely made Ewan uncomfortable. "May one inquire why, young sir? I am only a mid-rank Pursuer."   
  
"With a very high record of successful missions. I think I'll look forward to learning from you."  
  
"Young sir?" Ewan asked uncertainly. Holy Ones did not typically become Pursuers, their gifts seldom went in that direction.  
  
"I've just had you assigned as my instructor," the boy said.   
  
"May one ask why the young sir wishes to be trained as a Pursuer?" Ewan asked.   
  
"Personal reasons," the boy replied. 


End file.
